Indian cricketers receive central contracts from the BCCI in every season. These contracts guarantee an annual payment to the Indian cricketers apart from the money they earn from playing a single match in any format of the game for the nation.
The highest category of such contracts is called Grade A+, wherein the players earn INR 7 crore annually. Ravindra Jadeja received a promotion to that category this year, while Jasprit Bumrah, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma retained their contracts. Apart from that, there are three other categories, namely Grade A, Grade B and Grade C.
The salary difference is all three categories is of INR 2 crore, so Grade A+ earns 7 crore, Grade A earns 5 crore, Grade B earns 3 crore and Grade C earns 1 crore per year. Two Indian players have received a demotion this year, and their salaries have reduced by 2 crore. Here’s a list of the two stars:
1. One of the top Indian cricketers – Shardul Thakur
Shardul Thakur came into the limelight in 2020 and 2021 with his wicket-taking abilities and crucial contributions in the batting department. However, Thakur is no longer an all-format player for Team India. He played only a solitary T20I match in 2022, while he also lost his place in the playing XI of the Test format.
Thakur continues to be an integral part of the ODI squad. However, since he is getting a place in the playing XI of only one format now, Thakur’s salary has been reduced from 3 crore to 1 crore by the BCCI.
2. KL Rahul
KL Rahul was the vice-captain of Team India in all three formats of cricket last year. He has lost that place now.
Rahul has also been dropped from the Indian Test playing XI, while it is unclear if he is a member of the T20I team. Rahul’s salary has come down from 5 crore to 3 crore.
